Talk:Firefox/Archive 14

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Archive 10Archive 12Archive 13Archive 14Archive 15Archive 16Archive 17

Addition of New Award

I added the CNET Editor's Choice Award for Mozilla Firefox 3 in June 2008, in the Awards section 3 hours ago. And I cited the source from CNET's page itself. Just wanted people to know. Thanks. --DoctorFociWhom (talk) 06:12, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

Proposal to remove date-autoformatting

Dear fellow contributors

MOSNUM no longer encourages date autoformatting, having evolved over the past year or so from the mandatory to the optional after much discussion there and elsewhere of the disadvantages of the system. Related to this, MOSNUM prescribes rules for the raw formatting, irrespective of whether or not dates are autoformatted. MOSLINK and CONTEXT are consistent with this.

There are at least six disadvantages in using date-autoformatting, which I've capped here:

Disadvantages of date-autoformatting


  • (1) In-house only
  • (a) It works only for the WP "elite".
  • (b) To our readers out there, it displays all-too-common inconsistencies in raw formatting in bright-blue underlined text, yet conceals them from WPians who are logged in and have chosen preferences.
  • (c) It causes visitors to query why dates are bright-blue and underlined.
  • (2) Avoids what are merely trivial differences
  • (a) It is trivial whether the order is day–month or month–day. It is more trivial than color/colour and realise/realize, yet our consistency-within-article policy on spelling (WP:ENGVAR) has worked very well. English-speakers readily recognise both date formats; all dates after our signatures are international, and no one objects.
  • (3) Colour-clutter: the bright-blue underlining of all dates
  • (a) It dilutes the impact of high-value links.
  • (b) It makes the text slightly harder to read.
  • (c) It doesn't improve the appearance of the page.
  • (4) Typos and misunderstood coding
  • (a) There's a disappointing error-rate in keying in the auto-function; not bracketing the year, and enclosing the whole date in one set of brackets, are examples.
  • (b) Once autoformatting is removed, mixtures of US and international formats are revealed in display mode, where they are much easier for WPians to pick up than in edit mode; so is the use of the wrong format in country-related articles.
  • (c) Many WPians don't understand date-autoformatting—in particular, how if differs from ordinary linking; often it's applied simply because it's part of the furniture.
  • (5) Edit-mode clutter
  • (a) It's more work to enter an autoformatted date, and it doesn't make the edit-mode text any easier to read for subsequent editors.
  • (6) Limited application
  • (a) It's incompatible with date ranges ("January 3–9, 1998", or "3–9 January 1998", and "February–April 2006") and slashed dates ("the night of May 21/22", or "... 21/22 May").
  • (b) By policy, we avoid date autoformatting in such places as quotations; the removal of autoformatting avoids this inconsistency.

Removal has generally been met with positive responses by editors. Does anyone object if I remove it from the main text (using a script) in a few days’ time on a trial basis? The original input formatting would be seen by all WPians, not just the huge number of visitors; it would be plain, unobtrusive text, which would give greater prominence to the high-value links. Tony (talk) 06:40, 24 July 2008 (UTC)

Oppose, per your talk page; there is no consensus for this unilateral removal process. --Ckatzchatspy 08:47, 24 July 2008 (UTC)


Avoid self-references, is this article exempt?

Although it is kind of cool to have the sample Firefox image be a Wikipedia page, this seems clearly to be in conflict with the "Avoid self-references" Wikipedia policy, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_self-references Is there an exclusion for web browser articles, maybe to have them all display the same page for comparison? Or is it just a conflict with the policy that needs to be at least acknowledged? - Bevo (talk) 16:35, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

AFAIK, there is no problem with referring to Wikipedia, as long as it's done indirectly as if it was referred to on a page unrelated to Wikipedia. That is, statements such as "The web browser Firefox displaying the website Wikipedia" or "Firefox displaying the article 'Firefox' on the website Wikipedia" should be ok as per WP:ASR. --Execvator (talk) 17:58, 31 July 2008 (UTC)
A careful read of ASR yeilds that its primary purpose is to prevent refernces such as "this page" and so forth, and making unecessary comparisons to wikipedia. Essentially, when wikipedia is addressed, it should be addressed in the manor it would if a third party was making the reference.--Oni Ookami AlfadorTalk|@ 19:17, 31 July 2008 (UTC)
This is convention, for the sake of ensuring that screenshots of Web browsers are uniform and don't pick arbitrary sites to display. See WP:SCREEN, a formerly-proposed guideline. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 20:18, 31 July 2008 (UTC)
Also, one thing I failed to mention before, by using wikipedia as the webpage in the picture, the website portion of the image is effectively garaunteed to be compatible with Wikipedia's free and fair use image policies.--Oni Ookami AlfadorTalk|@ 12:59, 1 August 2008 (UTC)
We do use fair use images on the front page, actually I can't find the Tiger woods pic in our screen shot. It should probably be re-taken with guaranteed free pictures. -Ravedave (talk) 14:28, 1 August 2008 (UTC)
I believe any image on the front page (except for the Wikipedia logo) has to be free? Rehevkor 14:55, 1 August 2008 (UTC)
I believe that is true, but I don't know if it is clearly stated in policy. It is clearly derivative from the policy on how Fair Use would not apply to not free images hypothetically appearing on the front page. - Bevo (talk) 17:44, 1 August 2008 (UTC)
It is also useful to have a minimal number of licenses in the screenshot. Thus, for Firefox on GTK+/Linux, a MPL, LGPL, GPL or CC BY-SA -compatible site might be better, so the license is compatible with Firefox and/or the icon theme used. E.g. many of the www.mozilla.org pages are under CC BY-SA 2.0 (but be careful to avoid logos, and credit the authors). For simplicity and compatibility with everything, there are public domain sites, among which are LibriVox and various governmental organizations, e.g. many of the sites in .gov. --AVRS (talk) 22:23, 1 August 2008 (UTC)
Perhaps the "best" choice is about:robots or about:config then, they are under the same license as the rest of the browser, aren't they? --Execvator (talk) 12:18, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
Of all the about: URLs, I vote for about:robots, but it doesn’t look like a normal web page (and it has a button titled “Try again”). about:license does (NB: some parts of it are apparently free, others not!), but it may be too bland. --AVRS (talk) 20:57, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
I agree it would be too bland, and absolutely pointless to boot. Wikipedia falls under its own license, so there is no way inclusion of the website would hinder licensing concerns. If this is about the self-referencing specifically, it was already addressed that it refers to article prose, an about: page would show the reader NOTHING of the browser, the wikipedia page gives the reader at least some indication of the browser's functionality and how its engine renders pages.--Oni Ookami AlfadorTalk|@ 16:05, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
It's Wikipedia's text that falls under GNU FDL, but not images, and the screenshot would still be partially licensed under GFDL-incompatible licenses, so you cannot say for sure that it does not violate them or GFDL. --AVRS (talk) 17:13, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Fennec

I think it is time to start an article on Fennec. This is a mobile version of Firefox designed to run on Smartphones. It is currently in alpha. The Mozilla Corporation are developing the Product. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JamieFoster (talkcontribs) 06:02, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

Ubuntu Firefox EULA controversy

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2615

should this news be added to the licensing section? Ufopedia (talk) 11:20, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

First of all I don't understand why is that labeled "controversy", there's no controversy about it, I also don't think it's encyclopedic info whether products come with EULA or not. -- man with one red shoe (talk) 13:05, 16 September 2008 (UTC)
I think we already cover the issue in more than enough detail for an encyclopedia article. It's not a "controversy" that Firefox binaries come with a EULA, and that the Free Software Foundation considers Firefox binaries to be not free software because of the EULA. It's just a neutral fact, as has been reported as such in this article for years. You can read more about the details of the Ubuntu license issues at Mitchell Baker's blog. If Ubuntu decides to ship with abrowser or IceWeasel instead of Firefox, we can include that final decision in the article, as we already mention that Debian ships with IceWeasel. -- Schapel (talk) 13:28, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

Firefox 4 (Minefield) Trunk Build

OK I am using the "trunk build" of FF4 codename Minefield (officially version 4.0a1pre) and I added info about this yesterday including a link to the Mozilla homepage for the project (http://www.mozilla.org/projects/minefield/) but it was undone after 2 minutes. Am I wrong? Because I am using it myself! Queer As Folk (talk) 10:46, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

It is not “the” trunk build, it is updated every day or night all year. It is not “released” either, and the version is not official: it is just a stub version number to show it comes before version 4.0a1 (even if it was later decided that it will be, say, 4a1). Those builds are only for testing, and bear the “4.0a1pre” version since after 3.0 and 3.1 are branched off of trunk, and until one of the last 4.0a1pre builds is released as 4.0a1. Thus, 3.1a1pre was almost indistinguishable from 3.0.1, but 3.1a1 was more (didn't check) different. --AVRS (talk) 15:52, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
Aaah thanks for the clarification. My mistake. —Preceding unsigned comment added by QueerAsFolk (talkcontribs) 18:39, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Misleading text(?)

In the article it says:

Firefox had 19.73% of the recorded usage share of web browsers as of August 2008, making it the second-most popular browser in current use worldwide, after Internet Explorer.

Long before this statistic, it has been the second most used browser, I think this part should be changed as it may mislead some people. Perhaps to:

Firefox had 19.73% of the recorded usage share of web browsers as of August 2008, it is the second-most popular browser in current use worldwide, after Internet Explorer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.45.191.224 (talk) 11:04, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

How about, "As of August 2008, Firefox has 19.73% of the recorded usage share of web browsers, making it the second-most popular browser in current use worldwide after Internet Explorer." KeelNar (talk) 23:22, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Security

Does Mozilla Firefox save history in files similar to index.dat in Internet Explorer? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.234.208.222 (talk) 16:01, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

YES! []

As that page explains, only Firefox 2 and below store history in history.dat. Firefox 3 stores it in a database. -- Schapel (talk) 14:56, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

Self-signed certificates

I know that some Firefox users don't like how Firefox 3 handles self-signed certificates. That doesn't make a controversy. If you want to add information about the issue, remember to avoid weasel words, keep a neutral point of view, and cite reliable sources. I removed the sentence that someone had added on the issue because it broke every one of those policies and guidelines. -- Schapel (talk) 00:37, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Two security sections

We have two different sections that discuss security vulnerabilities in Firefox compared to other browsers. One section has very out-of-date information. Let's combine the two sections into one so that the article is shorted and contains more timely information. Also, because we mention older Windows users must use IE6 and suffer from its vulnerabilities, we should mention that older Windows users must use Firefox 2 and suffer from its vulnerabilities as well. -- Schapel (talk) 00:07, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

Critical reception. IE8, IE7 both have critical reception sections. Why doesn't this Firefox page? (or Chrome, Safari for that matter) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.254.146.20 (talk) 16:14, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

There is a Critical reaction section in the Firefox article. For discussion about articles on other browsers, post on their talk pages. -- Schapel (talk) 16:24, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Popunders

The article talks about popups, but is Firefox supposed to block popunders? I've seen casalemedia and suitesmart.com get these through the latest version "popup blocker" (see e.g. televisionwithoutpity.com) Wnt (talk) 05:13, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Yeah it does. But no blocker is 100%, for popups or unders. Rehevkor 05:46, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Firefox 3.1 Release Date

Someone made the claim in the article that March 2009 was the release date for Firefox 3.1 They did not source it and I could not find anything saying this either. If this is true, and anyone knows where this info came from, please readd it and source it. Jwjkp (talk) 06:56, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Red Panda vs Elemental Fox

what is the name supposed to mean? is it Red Panda or elemental fox ?--TiagoTiago (talk) 13:51, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

It's in the History of Mozilla Firefox article. But according to the official FAQ on the matter: "A "Firefox" is another name for the red panda."
Either way, this is a talk page for the article, not a forum. --Execvator (talk) 22:10, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Just pointing it out...

"Features included with Firefox are tabbed browsing, spell checker, incremental find, live bookmarking, an integrated download manager, keyboard shortcuts, and an integrated search system that uses the user's desired search engine" ...

This line is repeated twice in the article, once at the beginning, and a second time in the "features" section. Is it necessary to have this redundancy? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.39.229.113 (talk) 19:53, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

You mean it's repeated in the lead? Well the lead is a summary of the article and a basic list of features an an reasonable thing to have. Not a redundancy at all. Rehevkor 22:54, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

Typo?

"3.2 will use the Gecko 1.9.2 engine on the Mozilla 5 platform." This sentence does not seem correct. There is no "Mozilla 5"(they are still working on Mozilla 2). Is the Mozilla reference actually needed?

"3.2 will use the Gecko 1.9.2 engine on the Mozilla platform." "3.2 will use the Gecko 1.9.2 engine." 82.154.227.70 (talk) 22:10, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

according to my about ocnfig tab on 3.2a1 it says;
copyright 1998-2008 contributors. All rights Reserved.
Firefox and the Firefox logos are trademarks of the Mozilla foundation. All rights reserved.
Mozill/5.0 (windows; U; Windows NT 6.1;en-Us;
rv:1.9.2 a1pre) Gecko/20081221 Minefield/3.2a1pre.
so it should match that.
That's a different "Mozilla". My user agent for example is "Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux x86_64; en-US; rv:1.9.0.5) Gecko/2008122103 Gentoo Firefox/3.0.5".
Read the reference. On the same topic, I don't see any references that say anything about Fx3.2 being based on Mozilla 2... is there one? If not, that statement should be removed.
You can find more information about Mozilla 2 on the Mozilla wiki. --Execvator (talk) 17:04, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
You are right. I ended up correcting the typo earlier, but I've probably made it sound worse. The fact is we don't know whether or not Firefox 3.2 will be based on Mozilla 2. The 3.2 version number is just a placeholder for the time being. If they decide to base it on Mozilla 2, it will likely become 4.0 instead. Lippy13 (talk) 09:42, 25 December 2008 (UTC)
Currently, 3.2 seems to be a release with support for touchscreen, SMIL and (therefore) better Acid3 results. However, it is not decided yet.Luiscubal (talk) 17:42, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

Maybe we should change it to something like this:

"Version 3.2's release date is yet unknown with development starting on December 1, 2008.[35] Firefox 3.2 will use the Gecko 1.9.2 engine and will include several interface improvements, such as a new graphical tab-switching behavior, which was removed from 3.1 Beta 2." Zamadatix (talk) 20:10, 19 January 2009 (UTC)

3.1 is now 3.5, so what does 3.2 become?--87.162.16.158 (talk) 20:07, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

AFAIK, the currently proposed plan is to re-number version 3.1 to 3.5 after the release of 3.1 beta 3, and re-number the trunk builds to version 3.6 as a placeholder. Theo148 (talk) 12:35, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

Contacting sites when clicking off web page?

With Firefox 3.0.6 in updated Windows Vista, I noticed that when:

  1. browsing a particular source article,
  2. selecting any text from that article, and then
  3. clicking either in the Firefox Find box or on the Windows status bar

the browser gives a very brief notice that it is contacting IP addresses such as 74.86.135.170, 74.86.167.75, or 67.228.180.66, which are held by personifi.com .

It suppose it shouldn't be surprising that there would be some feature to tell sites when you've clicked away from the main window, yet it makes me wonder just how much other seemingly private user interaction data might be obtained by remote sites from Firefox. (Scroll bar usage? text prior to submission? user-identifiable typing rhythm?) Could someone elaborate what types of user interface information are made available, and whether there is any way to control this? Mike Serfas (talk) 01:58, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Deactivate JavaScript or install the NoScript extension... though, I don't really see how this has anything to do with an article on Firefox. As for what they can detect, all of your examples, to start with, can be detected. For ideas on more take a look at the listing of DOM events. If anything about this is going to be added it should probably go into the ECMAScript/JavaScript or the DOM article. --Execvator (talk) 20:20, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
Thanks for pointing me at these articles. But are you sure this isn't a Firefox question? The list of DOM events you cited is described as "not mandatory", and the decision of whether to embed JavaScript or ECMAScript, and to what degree to support it, would seem to be with Mozilla. And after all, the two fixes you mentioned (thanks for pointing out NoScript) are both coming from within Firefox. Mike Serfas (talk) 00:16, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Issues with Internet Explorer

I was just using Firefox because I have it and it is better than IE7. All those tabs (csd rfv unlink afd) on Wikipedia never work on IE7, but when I tried them on firefox they worked. I just ignored them because it never seemed to do anything when I clicked on them. Also on IE7, looking up insight and stats on Youtube videos doesn't work' it says things like malformed server, but with firefox it works fine. Daniel Christensen (talk) 05:02, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

latest build

it is not 3.1b3 anymore,it is 3.1b4pre

http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/experimental/latest-mozilla-1.9.1-l10n/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.113.97.163 (talk) 03:03, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

The infobox details the preview release, and 3.1b3 is indeed the latest preview . --Aeon17x (talk) 02:01, 21 March 2009 (UTC)

safebrowse protocol

Is the safebrowse protocol open source or isn't it? "My" citation that it is:

"google-safe-browsing - Google Code". Google Inc. Retrieved 2009-03-25. The box on the right states that the relevant code is available under a "New BSD License"

There's another citation which points to a notice asking people to not implement it, on the same site. I'd appreciate some input on this, since I was just reverted. I did do a partial revert-back, since I think "my" citation is correct. --Thinboy00 @023, i.e. 23:32, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

(Info for casual readers: the argument is basically about the beginning of the sentence: "Firefox also implements[66] a proprietary protocol[67] from Google ..." vs. "Firefox also implements[66] an open source protocol[67] from Google ...")
Sure, http://code.google.com/p/google-safe-browsing/ says: "Code License: New BSD License", however there is no code at all in this project! This license is only about this text itself, not about protocol that this text describes. So, I am inclined to revert back your edit (especially that now the next sentence (about Moz Manifesto) doesn't make sense), but let's wait some time to hear input from others... BartłomiejB (talk) 23:44, 25 March 2009 (UTC)
And the text about the protocol used in Firefox 3 is crystal clear: "Do not use this protocol without explicit written permission from Google. Copyright 2007 Google Inc. All Rights Reserved. (...) Note: This is not a license to use the defined protocol.". It is clearly not an open standard, but a proprietary protocol. BartłomiejB (talk) 23:50, 25 March 2009 (UTC)
The "Do not use" part is unclear about whether it's a legal (they'll sue you) or technical (they don't reply to requests done via this protocol unless they gave you permission to use their servers and their list) issue, and as for the copyright statement, BSD Licenses use those too, in exactly that format. --Thinboy00 @893, i.e. 20:25, 26 March 2009 (UTC)
Sure, the copyright statement is pretty standard. The rest of the cited text however, shows pretty clearly that it is a proprietary protocol. If their only concern is usage of the data, not the protocol itself, they should clearly state there. (BTW: it seems the site with the specification allows commenting. I don't have Google account, but if you have one you may try to ask there for clarification. In particular it is worth asking whether or not implementing this specification on server side (as opposed to client side) is permitted.) And re: "they don't reply to requests done via this protocol unless they gave you permission to use their servers and their list": every Firefox on the planet (on default settings) uses their servers and their lists, so practically I don't think this is the issue here. BartłomiejB (talk) 22:04, 26 March 2009 (UTC)

(undent) I meant Google doesn't want this to happen without their permission:

  1. OSS developer writes some little-used app/browser/whatever and implements safebrowse
  2. Malevolent developer writes a DOS attack on the safebrowse protocol (and on Google's servers)
  3. Google blocks apps which don't have permission from accessing safebrowse
  4. OSS developer gets confused.

They are trying to say "client=firefox, for the time being, so don't try to do this in your own third-party app, it won't work" --Thinboy00 @054, i.e. 00:17, 7 April 2009 (UTC) Also: I added a comment about this, let's hope for a response. --Thinboy00 @055, i.e. 00:19, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

  • Why don't you all address Mozilla Foundation or something about this matter? They must be clear about this if people want to use the safebrowse protocol and accompanying code. The Wurdalak (talk) 02:21, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

The Firefox 4 section

As I commented on the Firefox 3 comment page, I think this article should clarify whether the 3.6 (= trunk) builds may end up as Firefox 4 or not, and if this is not clear, stop treating Firefox 3.6 and 4 as separate releases, as that is guesswork. Northgrove 22:22, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Firefox 3.5 beta 4 not yet released

Today is Firefox 3.5 beta 4 test day. A candidate build of Firefox 3.5 beta 4 is available for testing purposes only. Firefox 3.5 beta 4 has not yet been released. -- Schapel (talk) 11:51, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

Portable Firefox?

Portable Firefox does have its own page, but should it not be mentioned (and linked to) from this article? Any ideas where it should be slotted in?KoolerStill (talk) 16:43, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

It's already in "Forks and Related Projects" at the end of the article. I think the article should be cleaned up so readers can find what's already there, instead of adding yet more info which makes it even harder to find what's already there. -- Schapel (talk) 16:48, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
I saw it in "Forks and Related Projects", but those tiny boxes would not make much sense to the average reader.(They are full of names not mentioned in the article, so their relevance is obscure). I think the existence of Portable and other Firefox based browsers say a lot more about the browser than detailed listings of minor version numbers, their dates, and the minor fixes included in them....which could be easily covered by a link to the relevant Mozilla page. (That would also include further updates sooner than anyone would get around to adding it to the article). KoolerStill (talk) 05:56, 25 April 2009 (UTC)
I believe it needs to be noted in the "Trademark and Logo Issues" section as PortableApps.com was granted unique permission to use the name and logo. According to that site's founder, John T. Haller, they're the only exception to the rule. The proper name, btw, is Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition. NathanJ1979 (talk) 22:57, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

Firefox 3.5 releases getting rediculously crowded

Maybe instead of listing every beta, preview and release candidate in paragraph form, someone could make a handy table? Since this paragraph is purely for information and reference, a table would display this information more easily, in my opinion. 216.228.21.194 (talk) 17:28, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

Firefox 3.5 is now available

Release Notes have not yet been posted, but these links do work (change lang to your preference, these are en-US):

Windows: http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-3.5&os=win&lang=en-US

Mac OS X: http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-3.5&os=osx&lang=en-US

Linux: http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-3.5&os=linux&lang=en-US

As mentioned in this article, it is also being sent to major download sites, like Softpedia: http://www.ghacks.net/2009/06/30/firefox-3-5-final/

I suspect the launch is softer now so Mozilla's servers won't be hammered like when 3.0 was released.Julyo (talk) 12:13, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Version 4.0

"switching to standard C++ features"

Excuse my ignorance, but what does that mean? Thank you. 122.26.131.2 (talk) 01:08, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

I guess they use some third party APIs or features and they plan to remake those things with standard C++ features. Could need some clarification. --Tuoppi gm (talk) 21:41, 20 June 2009 (UTC)
I don’t know how to put it in three or four words, but basically, the cited source explains it: they currently have a lot of "portability veneer" (as the source euphemizes it) in the code that makes it a maintenance nightmare (particularly if you’re not highly familiar with the code). The API-breaking affords them the opportunity to clean that sort of code up by using now-standard C++ features that I’m guessing weren’t viable options to use when the code was originally written (for whatever reason). The clause does need a do-over because it’s not clear enough. -BRPXQZME (talk) 17:36, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Firefox 4 and Python

The article says "Additional inclusion of the Python language will be fully exposed in this release having already been stabilized in the Gecko 1.9 branch.[citation needed] The Python Firefox framework is to replace JavaScript and the extraneous JavaFX plugins.[citation needed]"

Claiming Python will replace JavaScript seems a bit... strong. This definitively should not be in Wikipedia without VERY GOOD citations, which are currently unavailable. A few references about Python on Firefox 4 are available, though: http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/roadmap/archives/008865.html However, this has absolutely no reference to JavaFX.Luiscubal (talk) 18:57, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Portable Firefox 3.5 for Ubuntu Linux

I was mad looking for a Portable Firefox for Linux, until I finally found it. Do you think it is worth adding information about this to the article to let users know a portable version exists for Linux and not only for Windows? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.241.54.213 (talk) 23:24, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Other thing missing is mention of Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition, I think that should at least mentioned. SF007 (talk) 13:35, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

FireFox have a marketshare of over 30 %

FireFox increases its share in the web-browsing market, and now holds 30.33 % while Ms IE holds 59 %. 83.108.208.28 (talk) 20:16, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Add-ons

".. created by third-party developers, of which there is a wide selection, a feature that has attracted many of Firefox's users". I think the bold part needs a reference. Agreed? Thanks Kvsh5 (talk) 18:49, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

the second part is weird.. why are addons attracting firefox users who already know that there are addons? anyway, this one needs a source --Darth NormaN (talk) 20:41, 24 July 2009 (

"Its current stable release is version 3.5.1, released on July 16, 2009". I'm not saying it's stable or not, it just seems weird to state it's stable at this point in time. What do you think? Thanks Kvsh5 (talk) 18:53, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Mozilla decides whats a stable release and what is not. in general a stable release is a public release, not an alpha/beta/rc. that means 3.5 was a stable version and so is 3.5.1 --Darth NormaN (talk) 20:35, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
And the stable release at the moment is 3.5.2 - shouldn't that be updated, or is it pointless giving useless and often unimportant information such as this, given that it is out of date within weeks, if not days? --LordSarnoc (talk) 21:30, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

The database

If you know about the evolution of the database in Firefox (SQLite) it would make interesting reading. 85.131.31.130 (talk) 21:48, 9 October 2009 (UTC)

3.6 beta 1

It's released, but I don't know how to change the preview release line. (http://www.pcworld.com/article/173728/firefox_36_beta_available_for_download.html) 24.241.229.253 (talk) 15:12, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

No, it's not. PC World is just too stupid to realize apparently. What they claim to be the beta download page is in fact only a directory on the FTP server where developers propose packages that could be used as beta 1. Those are still nightly builds though and not official releases... Regards SoWhy 14:23, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

Outdated info?

"According to the current schedule, Beta 1 was to be released October 28, but due to a technicality will be delayed 1-2 days." This is out of date. I'm not sure of the real date. {{helpme}}

--Kuliwil (talk) 10:22, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

You are free to change the information yourself but how is this out of date? It's the 30th today, so we are still within the 1-2 days delay period and the FTP server shows that there is a candidate build for 3.6 beta 1. If it has not been released until tomorrow, we can still change it then. Regards SoWhy 10:36, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

Updated Screenshot

I believe somebody may have to update this Page with a new Screenshot, possibly this one: Firefox 3.5 on Windows XP

Ok?

--MetalBluscat (talk) 21:06, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

Can anyone tell me why a screenshot of Firefox in Windows always gets deleted? And isn't it possible to upload an image that doesn't show the task/title bar? Just the browser, that should work imo. --Darth NormaN (talk) 17:07, 8 August 2009 (UTC)
I agree, windows is the most used operating system, so why not have a screen shot with it--A9l8e7n (talk) 17:36, 8 August 2009 (UTC)a9l8e7n
Because of licensing issues, read Microsoft policy man with one red shoe 22:24, 9 August 2009 (UTC)
How comes that a screenshot of google chrome on windows vista is accepted then? I thought about something that Opera does: an instance without the window frame. --Darth NormaN (talk) 21:17, 10 August 2009 (UTC)
I should like to note that the web page you cited only discusses the usage of screenshots of microsoft products, and that it clearly indicates that screenshots of 3rd party software should be used according to the wishes of the software's copyright owner. Please clarify the licensing issues involved with a Windows Vista border on a software window. Kerdek (Tell me if I screw up) 04:46, 19 November 2009 (UTC)
Wow that is totally true--A9l8e7n (talk) 21:25, 10 August 2009 (UTC)
There is no free replacement for a screenshot of Chrome on Windows. - Josh (talk | contribs) 21:59, 10 August 2009 (UTC)
Yes there is, Chrome is on linux, the interface is pretty much what it would be as a final release --Patman21 (talk) 01:29, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

Could someone update the image so it's a screenshot in English? I'm not sure why the English Wikipedia uses French for its main screenshot of Firefox. --90.198.80.10 (talk) 02:07, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

Firefox for mobile/Fennec

Fennec is now officially under the Firefox name as Firefox for mobile I moved the Fennec page to Firefox for mobile to reflect the change. Since the mobile version its now an official version of Firefox with the name and logo maybe a "Mobile Version" section should be created in this article? Chris Ssk talk 17:29, 13 November 2009 (UTC)

What's the deal with FF 2 in the future release section?

Is this some kind of bug or what? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.72.71.247 (talk) 22:20, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

Not Firefox 2, Mozilla 2.0, it's the engine behind Firefox, rather than the browser itself. Rehevkor 22:22, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

Google's proprietary protocol in Firefox and Mozilla Manifesto

Schapel and Rehevkor have been removing the following text about Google's so-called "safebrowsing" protocol in "Standards" section:

Its inclusion contradicts the Mozilla Manifesto. ref: "The Mozilla Manifesto". mozilla.org. Retrieved 2009-11-29. "(...) Principles ... 2. The Internet is a global public resource that must remain open and accessible. ... 6. The effectiveness of the Internet as a public resource depends upon interoperability (protocols, data formats, content), innovation and decentralized participation worldwide. (...)"

Could you both provide here an extensive rationale for these removals, please? BartłomiejB (talk) 23:45, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

Simply original research, lacks third party sourcing. Not much more I can say on the subject. I already explained in my edit summaries, why take it here? Rehevkor 23:57, 30 November 2009 (UTC)
You personally advised me to "take this to the talk page". BTW - why did you advise me to read WP:OP? How is it relevant? Also, could you explain what do you mean by "third party source"? I think guys from The Register just love such juicy stories, so if they wrote about this, would it qualify as a "third party source" to satisfy you? Anyway, third party sources are already there: Google's statements about the necessity of their written permission to use this protocol and Mozilla Manifesto itself (BTW - it is being translated to many languages by volunteers...). I could also add the words from executive director of the Mozilla Foundation, suggesting what is the Mozilla mission: (to provide) "The freedom to innovate and remix without asking permission." and: "the ability to create, remix and innovate without having to ask permission.". When Google requires written permission, then it is in direct contradiction, no? So why did you remove statement that says that? BartłomiejB (talk) 00:35, 1 December 2009 (UTC)
You need to cite a reliable source that specifically states that Firefox's use of the safebrowsing protocol contradicts the Mozilla Manifesto. You cannot come to that conclusion yourself and add that information to the article; that is called original research, which is disallowed in Wikipedia. -- Schapel (talk) 01:52, 1 December 2009 (UTC)
You haven't provided what I asked for. Instead of some reasonable arguments you gave a standard wikilawyering statement that may be used to remove almost any content from any article. This is not helpful (I am aware of Wikipedia's rules and policies, thank you) nor convincing. Please, stop this and provide some on-topic rationale. I already provided and cited reliable sources that support the removed sentence. BartłomiejB (talk) 19:49, 1 December 2009 (UTC)
It is, without a doubt, pure original research, and I feel this has been explained adequately to you. It is not wikilawyering to act against a clear case of what is "one of three core content policies". You've not provided a single third party source or viable reason to include it. It's not our job to justify why it shouldn't be included, it's yours to justify why it should. The source is just the manifesto, from which you have come to your own conclusions which have (As far as I know) not been published anywhere. Original research. You claim you're familiar with this policy but I kindly suggest you take your time and read it though before continuing. Rehevkor 20:40, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

Support status of pre-release versions?

In the release history table, the support status of pre-release versions of Firefox is indicated by a green tick mark on a red background. What is this supposed to mean? If there are only green ticks on green and red X's on red, it is obvious that the ticks mean a version is supported and the X's mean a version is not supported. But when green ticks on a red background are thrown into the mix, one has no idea what anything is supposed to mean. This table used to follow the colour key of the table in History of Mozilla Firefox, but I presume that this was reduced to two colours for the sake of simplicity. However, we need to decide whether or not to consider pre-release versions as "supported". KeelNar 03:31, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

It could be that green is for officially released versions (not Alpha or Beta). Chris Ssk talk 16:49, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

Vote to remove the ".Net Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1" section

I'd like to suggest that we remove the ".Net Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1" section from the article. The information doesn't really add to the subject and, in my opinion, the subject is a non-story anyway -- Microsoft committed a faux pas and fixed it. It really doesn't have anything to do with Firefox as a browser. Brianpeiris (talk) 03:57, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

I think that should be merged into the Security section, there already a line about it there. --Chris Ssk talk 09:04, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Refer to ECMAScript 5th Edition

Refer to ECMAScript 5th Edition (not 3.1?) ? 82.163.24.100 (talk) 22:38, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

3.7 canceled?

Is this of any interest? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.108.194.198 (talk) 11:41, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

It is in my opinion. Mozilla changed its release strategy. Maybe we should wait for an official statement, tho, before we edit the article. --Darth NormaN (talk) 13:49, 16 January 2010 (UTC)
I Just removed a section of the article saying 3.7 was cancelled. As Mike Beltzner (Mozilla's Director of Firefox) posted on his block "rumours of Firefox 3.7’s demise have been greatly exaggerated" He even points to the article linked above as one of the less accurate articles about whats going to happen.
I also added some info in the 3.6 section about what Mozilla plans to do next and how they will update their product roadmap soon. --Chris Ssk talk 13:13, 17 January 2010 (UTC)

3.7 codename Firefox.next?

According to the MozillaWiki (specificially this[] article), 3.7's codename is firefox.next. Is this verified? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.176.81.39 (talk) 11:45, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

The default codename for each future firefox is firefox.next. It will get a proper codename soon. 93.96.175.64 (talk) 18:21, 2 February 2010 (UTC)
Oh i see, thanks! 124.183.98.220 (talk) 04:13, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Neutrality

I'm not sure that the article is objective enough, but that's mostly based on feel and I can't quote any particular thing. Comments?

207.118.74.119 (talk) 18:28, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

No comments unless you can be a little more specific. Rehevkor 18:32, 8 February 2010 (UTC)
I've got similar feeling. Generally, any positive thing about Mozilla Firefox is accepted, and any criticism is quickly removed. For example the following was present in lead for some time:
"Due to the January 2010, well-publicized vulnerability in Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, the German, French, and Australian governments have publicly issued warnings to Internet Explorer users to use alternative browsers at least until a fix for the security hole is released. The first browser they recommended was Mozilla Firefox, followed by Google Chrome."
Last sentence was false, but nobody cared to check the references. OTOH when I was trying to add one little sentence in "Standards" section: "Its [safebrowsing] inclusion contradicts the Mozilla Manifesto.", then it was quickly removed (despite the fact that reliable sources given fully support such conclusion). Funny how it works, isn't it? BartłomiejB (talk) 17:58, 9 February 2010 (UTC)
If you find information that you think is wrong, feel free to tag it accordingly or remove it. It sounds like your contribution was removed because it was original research; you cannot publish your own idea, even if it is a conclusion supported by cited references. This way, the article will be neutral, even though individual editors may be biased one way or another. -- Schapel (talk) 18:09, 9 February 2010 (UTC)
I'm sorry, but you are obviously wrong: there are many voices on this talk page (including archives) that suggest bias in this article. I think one of the reason for this situation is that Mozilla itself is considered as a "reliable source" and any bombastic marketing claim from them is included in a jiffy. BartłomiejB (talk) 18:24, 9 February 2010 (UTC)
If you find information that you think is wrong, feel free to tag it accordingly or remove it. I have no intention to continue arguing the point with you. Help to improve the article or don't help to improve the article, but don't complain that others are doing it wrong. -- Schapel (talk) 18:52, 9 February 2010 (UTC)
The manifesto situation you are referring to was not an issue of neutrality or reliable sources but a clear cut case of original research. But of course you already know this as it was explained to you in great and unnecessary detail last time, so why bring it up again? Rehevkor 18:15, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Error

Is there a reason for error when I'm deleted I.explorer? Because Mozilla won't to start and work at this moment!(with exception of Opera) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.26.43.48 (talk) 11:55, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

I'm not sure what your problem is, but you should remember that this talk page is not a reference desk. Try here: Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing. BartłomiejB (talk) 18:05, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Firefox screenshot with custom theme?

Can you guys put the original picture back? The custom theme may make people think that it always looks like that by default. tablo (talk) 01:02, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

I took one with a normal theme and replaced it. -- Austin512 (talk contribs) 06:19, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Features

In the third paragraph there is a list of new features, which is updated for about release 1.0/1.5. BMB (talk) 22:27, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Firefox Chrome

Since chrome is an important part of Firefox (handle look and feel of Firefox's UI) why is there no mention of Chrome in Firefox? 75.92.7.61 (talk) 14:03, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

chrome is the name of the visible parts of the UI (menus, buttons, toolbars, etc...). This is not specific to Firefox. The visible GUI of Opera can be referred to as Opera's chrome, Google Chrome's visible parts can be referred to as Chrome's chrome, etc. In Firefox, the user interface is written using XUL and Javascript and is rendered by the Gecko engine which also renders the webpages (thats the reason Firefox is so customizable) --Chris Ssk talk 18:18, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

File size

Aticle mentions Mozilla firefox size is 7.8 MB for windows . Size of firefox 3.6.3 varies according to language , but all languages are greater than this size:

  • English-US 8 MB (according to website ) /7.96 MB according to file properties.
  • Arabic :7.9 MB (according to website )

Melnakeeb (talk) 10:03, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

I think file sizes should be removed. They are file sizes of archived files and serve little purpose. When actually installed, Firefox takes more room on your HDD. Also: these numbers would need to be updated for each new release and are not the same for all languages. GoldRenet (talk) 10:55, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
I agree, useless trivia, I think it started as a virtual penis contest between different browsers: "my browser is less bloated than yours" man with one red shoe 23:39, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
I have removed the file sizes. All cheer! GoldRenet (talk) 07:30, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
Thanks :) man with one red shoe 14:57, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

Merge from Market Adoption of Mozilla Firefox

I have merged all the prose from the daughter article Market adoption of Mozilla Firefox into this article. There is a table and some graphs I didn't bother merging. I think we have too many in the section as it is. -- Schapel (talk) 23:21, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

Performance section NEEDS to be updated

Currently, it only has old information about how much memory Firefox used compared to IE. Memory use and performance are NOT the same thing. We need info about JavaScript performance. —Preceding unsigned comment added by TheTechFan (talkcontribs) 18:32, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

Memory use is not the same as performance, but memory use is part of performance. The section should include memory use, startup time, page loading speed, and JavaScript speed relative to other browsers, including the work that is being done to fix memory leaks and optimize memory usage, speed up startup times, improve cache performance and pipelining, and Tracemonkey and Jaegermonkey. Information about versions of Firefox older than 3.0 can be removed, as those versions are no longer supported. -- Schapel (talk) 21:34, 4 May 2010 (UTC)
I just restored all the deleted information in the performance section. How Firefox 1.5 compared against IE6 in 2005 is equally relevant to how Firefox 3.6 compares to Chrome in 2010. This is an encyclopedic article, its not only about current versions --Chris Ssk talk 09:52, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

I reverted an edit that said that "some users" had a problem with memory, for several reasons. First, for nearly any problem you can imagine, "some users" have had a problem with it in every browser. Second, the phrase "some users" is weasel words. Third, the reference cited was a blog, which is not considered a reliable source. It's like putting a statement such as "some people have car accidents in New York" in an article on New York city, and citing someone's personal blog as a reference instead of published statistics on automobile accidents in New York city. -- Schapel (talk) 13:39, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

Ubuntu Firefox drop

There's a fair amount of talk at the moment about whether the next version of Ubuntu, 11.04, should drop Firefox in-favour of Chrome (and, less so, Epiphany) as the default browser. Considering the significance of the Ubuntu distro (at-least for home-users, less-so for business) surely this could be of note? 86.145.210.103 (talk) 20:12, 8 December 2010 (UTC)

Mozilla 2

Mozilla 2 redirects to the Future Developments section of this article but there is no mention of exactly what Mozilla 2 is. I'm not convinced that this is the correct article to detail what Mozilla 2 is (or is expected to become), maybe Mozilla or some other such article is a venue. Kinemaτ

The Mozilla 2 section needs to be updated. Gecko 2.0 is coming with Firefox 4, some of the XPCOM changes already landed with 4.0b2 and JaegerMonkey is the new method JIT for SpiderMonkey. --Chris Ssk talk 11:48, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for "reading" my comment, Man with one red shoe

That was sarcastic. It's obvious you didn't even read my comment. Yes, it's long, but it has relevance. It is in fact about problems that could be addressed in the article. If you are the self-proclaimed forum police, do everyone a favor and read people's posts in their entirety before deleting them. It's very apparent that any post over a certain number of characters automatically gets the boot without you even bothering to look into the matter. If you don't have the time in your busy schedule to read the longer posts, you are more than welcome to find a new hobby. Let this be a lesson to you, that some "WikiChores" get neglected if they become a "full-time job"; and relevance is in reading people's comments. And I'd recommend that you modify your declaration on your talk page (the one that instructs people to post issues about their post getting deleted back on the original talk page). You are so technical about article relevance. Why on earth would anyone think that cluttered complaints about removed comments improves articles??? If relevance is so important, it should be a no-brainer to you that these complaints DO NOT belong on an article talk page. That belongs on your talk page. If you can't manage your own talk page, go fly a kite. READ in my old comment why the Bold font is all messed up in it. Good day. 24.10.181.254 (talk) 04:23, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

Why don't you post your concerns at the official Firefox forum, here? I know it's rude to remove your comments like that, but I wouldn't worry about it because no one would have replied, anyway. They're really doing you a favor, when you think about it. You'd get many more responses (and they'd be more informative) if you posted in a Firefox forum.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 05:09, 24 June 2010 (UTC)
This page is for improving the article, is not to ask technical questions or complain about the product. If you have any suggestions about the article you are welcome, but try to "dress" them as comments about article not as rants about your personal experiences with the product which are not relevant, you should direct that to a Firefox forum or submit a bug report. man with one red shoe 13:53, 24 June 2010 (UTC)
Good suggestion Best Dog Ever. I think you've shown me what I should have done in the first place. I don't know what got into me. Anyway, I think you're right. I was being done a favor. I just wish I hadn't said what I did to you, Red Shoe. Without people like you, the discussion pages would turn into unruly forums. I am sorry. I hold no hard feelings (except against myself). All right people, I'll take this to Firefox forums. I've got parts of it already typed. Sorry about my unacceptable behavior. Looks like I'm the real person that learned a lesson. Thanks Best Dog Ever for setting me straight, and keep up the good work Man with one red shoe! 24.10.181.254 (talk) 15:24, 24 June 2010 (UTC)
Oh, Man With One Red Shoe, I have formally thanked Best Dog Ever on his talk page. So, even if Best Dog Ever doesn't read this, (s)he will read it on his/her talk page. So, if you're feeling the urge to delete this eyesore, go for it. Thanks for your patience. Have a good day, I hope. 24.10.181.254 (talk) 15:33, 24 June 2010 (UTC)
You rarely see people on Wikipedia (or elsewhere) admitting that they made a mistake. For what is worth removing comments can be rude, but I didn't see another way to keep the talk page focused on its purpose. Maybe I should have explained how Best Dog Ever did instead of removing your comment. man with one red shoe 17:36, 24 June 2010 (UTC)
Hey, no worries. I think removing it in this case was the right thing to do, otherwise I would probably discuss article-worthy material in unnecessary detail on other article talk pages, too. This was a good learning experience. I personally am glad that you did what you did, and that Best Dog Ever did what he did. Both yours and Dog's responses were rarities as well, so thanks. 24.10.181.254 (talk) 17:49, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

Firefox Home

The "Firefox Home" app listed in future developments has been approved by apple and is now released so I'm removing it from the future developments section. However the app is not a browser and I don't think it belongs in this article. For now I'm moving it as a section in the Firefox Sync article since the app is based on the Firefox Sync technology but ,aybe it should get its own article? --Chris Ssk talk 09:00, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Firefox isn't Free software; here's why

Release history

Web browser flaw secretly bares all

Proposed article rename: Mozilla Firefox 3 → 3.0

Move discussion in progress

Firefox 4 has dropped support for the Gopher protocol

Repeated image

"64-bit_builds" and past tence

Trademark and The Charlton Company

New release channels

Edit request from 81.231.245.214, 22 April 2011

Edit request from Toddnoyes, 3 May 2011

Major issues

Naming history slightly misleading

File:Firefox 4.png Nominated for Deletion

Firefox 5, 6 and 7 articles

Firefox 0.10 (Firefox 1.0 Preview Release) missing from the release history

Firefox 5 released

The latest Features

Edit request from Ntim380, 25 June 2011

Default theme please!

System requirements

/* UI Changes */ Added Citations and made more neutral.

Firefox 6.0

Edit request from Taocp, 6 September 2011

Firefox is not entirely free software

Scrolling broken

Win95

Moved from archived FAR page

Acid 3 Rendering

Acid3 and Standards

RfC: Which OS should be in the lead?

SafeBrowsing isn't a proprietary protocol

Version Release Table

Please don't list UX mockup/branch info in future release notes

Firefox's rendering engine, able to use multiple cores?

Spellchecking out of the box?

Question

Edit request on 21 December 2011

Firefox 12 Nightly

Browser market share

firefox no longer second most used

ESR

Wikimedia server logs

Versions 12 and 13?

Is the Firefox logo free?

60.51.58.186 needs to be banned from making edits

WikiProject Apple Inc.

There is no Firefox 10.0.3

Version history

Update the awards section

We need the Firefox logo used from 0.8 - 0.9

Forcible update of all Firefox 3.6 installations?

New release table history

Firefox 12 screenshot poll

Beta / Aurora / Nightly

Placeholder for future firefox releases

Merger proposal

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI